#response8

[awasikonis]

The City

N.K. Jemisin’s “The City Born Great” is a story about a nameless black, gay, homeless, graffiti artist who learns the meaning of place and how our actions impact/shape that place. Through that, he learns where he fits in and becomes the “protector” of New York City.

Jemisin goes on to explain that places come alive from being manifested. However, some cities survive while others die, but New York City is thriving under his protection. It’s interesting to consider that cities are their own being being fed by the people who inhabit it almost like a parasitic symbiotic relationship. While I’ve never grown up in a city since I lived in an average sized college town. I do understand what Jemisin is saying because I have always associated New York City as this other thing entirely. It eats and breathes from the people who inhabit it and as long as the spirit of New Yorkers lives on, then, New York City will continue to exist.

That is what the protagonist learns who is not your standard “hero.” This shows that everyone is accountable and it is up to you to protect the city you know and love.

[nicholaspiselli-blog]

Another Year

Another Year, directed by Shengze Zhu, captures the original essence of family life for the audience. 13 dinners were filmed over the course of 13 months that portrayed the livelihood of six family members. As the audience got to know the family, the element of the static camera made it feel as though you were another member at the dinner table. Spanning across all different age groups and the small space they lived in with no privacy, the family dynamic was extremely interesting. The family went through some hardships throughout the year with the grandmother suffering a severe stroke. Ultimately, Zhu sought to document the changes families go through within the span of a year. She also sought to find the changes in herself over the course of the film.

The use of the camera angles in showing the family and the space was profound when telling the story of this family. By using wide shots in the earlier dinners, the audience was able to become comfortable with the space and grow a connection to it. The TV was one element of the space that played such a role within the family that I am pleased we got to see it in the wide shots early on. It also allowed the audience to see the tiny apartment that had to fill the needs of six people. This helped the audience understand how frustrating it must have been to have so little privacy. As the film continued on, Zhu’s shots focused more on the personal aspects of the family. Taking closer shots, allowed us to see the emotions of the characters and how they personally viewed each other. I see this gradual connection as a great way to use the camera to build relationships between the characters and audience throughout the peace.

[ncgonzalez-blog]

The whole point of using copying as an innovative strategy is to change it in some way to make it better. If someone copies someone’s idea, writing, invention, style, or anything without changing it at all, they are only engaging in the first basic element or creativity, and are therefore not creative. Without the two aspects of transformations and combinations there is no intelligence or imagination reflected in the work.

 Plagiarizing to me is when someone uses another’s ideas wanting to play them off as their own. Accidental plagiarism is way too easy to commit. Even if something is cited incorrectly it can constitute as plagiarism and in my opinion it’s a little hard to hold that against someone because you know there was no mal-intent.

When someone copies the way someone else dresses or does their hair, or their style in general, it is considered a form of “flattery”, but it really is just annoying. When someone has their own style it reflects a certain pride of being themselves and their own unique individual. When someone copies them it takes that away from them. There is no mal-intent in this action either, but there are negative consequences to the person being copied. When someone cites a quotation incorrectly there is both no mal-intent and no negative consequences to the original speaker because people can see that the person tried to give them credit.

When someone really intends to plagiarize, they want to pass off the ideas as their own, and leave out an original source. In this case, there is both mal-intent and negative consequences to the owner of that intellectual property because anyone reading the paper is lead to believe that these ideas came from someone whom they really didn’t, and the person who really is intelligent and imaginative doesn’t get the recognition.

Overall the concept of copying is generally pretty black and white, but plagiarism has a lot of grey area.

What one can do to maintain their academic integrity really is quite simple. Make sure at the References page at the end of a paper or project that literally everything you got any idea from is cited, and within the paper, make sure every quote is cited correctly. Use an introductory phrase with the original idea owner and then end it with (citation). If an idea is your own, you don’t have to cite it.

[joyfultreelight-blog]

Metropolis

1. Both version of the film were very different. The first orchestra felt heavy and fleeting. It consisted of drums trumpets and loud instruments. The other instruments were hardy heard. This made it sound more dramatic and chaotic. Because it is a silent movie, creating loud noises only tarnishes the film. In all the sound was good to add emphasis on the scenes and the character, but it did not totally fit the screen. 

2.  The second Orchestra, to me, was much better. Some of the sounds in the Orchestra felt more like it came from the movie itself. It fits the screen perfectly, It is lighter, gentle and delicate. It ties in more and integrated. Both works of art were good, however, the second one had a star.

[finnthemightyalpaca-blog]

Mix Tape

The project that we did where we had to record complete silence to capture the noise that is being projected around us really helped me discover the meaning of certain noises and how even small everyday noises can be used to really make a scene feel more alive and makes the film feel more realistic.  I think the beginning of the audio recording everyone is quiet and then during the middle everyone sort of gets louder but then die down later near the end.